PARACHINAR: Prolonged suspension of power supply has caused severe water shortage in Parachinar as the Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) is unable to repair a damaged transmission line.

Around 100,000 residents of the town are without electricity for more than two weeks after a windstorm damaged transmission line at Chappari in Lower Kurram Agency.

Tube-wells are the main source of water supply to the residents of Parachinar. Local people are either buying water or bringing it in plastic containers from the surrounding areas.

An official of the company said that electricity was likely to be restored in next 48 hours as repair work was in progress.

It is worth mentioning that the company provides electricity to consumers in Parachinar and other parts of Kurram Agency only for two to three hours daily.

Apart from tube-wells water was also supplied to the town from Zeran through gravity flow system. However, the gravity system does not work and people in the surrounding localities are using contaminated water from ponds.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan coordinator Azmat Ali Alizai said that the residential quarters of the senior officers had been provided three to four water connections while thousands of residents were dying for a drop of clean water. He said large number of tube-wells had gone out order, creating severe water crisis in the area.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2017